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25/10/2013

Captain Phillips

Based on the 2009
incident in which a US tanker was captured by a handful of Somali pirates, Captain
Phillips is a story tailor made for film and fulfils that potential thanks
to sharp direction from Paul Greengrass and two very strong performances at its
core. There have been suggestions that the Captain is made out to be more
heroic than he really was and that is was his ignoring of the pirate threat
that led the ship into a dangerous area. Phillips himself has said the ordeal
was even worse than depicted in the film. However the acts displayed here are
far removed from the triumphant heroics you see in many moves nowadays as the
ending makes clear and the resulting film, even if it is not totally accurate,
is a very well assembled nail biting thriller that will take you beyond the
edge of your seat!

In 2009 the US cargo
tanker Mearsk Alabama carrying mostly food supplies became the target of a
comparatively small group of Somali pirates whose intention was to ransom the
vessel for millions. Things soon go awry for both sides. The ship‘s carefully
prepared anti-pirate measures prove woefully ineffectual once the intruders are
on board. The pirates themselves initially fail in their efforts and it’s only
after one of their number- Abduwali Muse- takes over that their operation
becomes wilier. Thus we are drawn into a battle of wits between two leaders,
each able to recognise the qualities of the other, each prone to make more
considered, intelligent judgements than their subordinates. The pirates are
prone to bicker amongst themselves over seniority and tactics while Phillips’
men lack his sharp sense of danger and seem less prepared than they should be
given that the ship is sailing down the east coast of Africa. Ultimately
neither man is in control as outside scenarios threaten to overwhelm them.

Thus the film scores because it portrays both sides of the situation equally.
You will never feel sympathetic with the pirates but the justification Muse
offers for their behaviour does ring true and you can see their logic. There is
a laudable attempt to place their life in context partly as a result of what
richer countries have done so they are always more than simply cartoon
villains. Meanwhile Phillips is no unbelievable Die Hard style hero,
instead doing realistically human things to protect his crew.

Anchoring
the film with a more abrasive character than he is often asked to play Tom
Hanks gives one of the performance of his career. There is no show boating, no
over dramatics, just a dedicated, inventive and ultimately weary man doing his
best. It’s hard to think of any actor who could deliver this as well as Hanks
does. Yet he is matched by a mesmerising performance from Barkhad Abdi as Muse
in what is remarkably his film debut. Gaunt to the point of looking unhealthy,
he gives the character an intelligence and even a little mystery. Locked
against each other in the initial scenes after the pirates have boarded and
later, trapped in the lifeboat in which they escape with Phillips as a hostage
both actors are riveting.

The film moves quickly despite a running time of two and a quarter hours and
Greengrass manages to raise the tension with each development particularly near
the end when it is racheted up to an almost unbearable level. The familiarity
we now have with both Phillips and Muse means we feel personally invested in
the outcome. While there are increasingly cuts away to the military as they
attempt a rescue especially towards the end matters remains focussed on board
first the tanker and then the lifeboat and results in one of the year’s most
involving films.